This week, the world’s population reached a staggering 7 billion people. In a new campaign to raise awareness about the challenges -- and opportunities -- in a world of 7 billion, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has urged the world to take action to reduce the disparities in which hundreds of millions of people in developing and least developed nations lack the most basic ingredients for a decent life.

Hi all,

A couple of bits of news from Call2Action that may benefit this comunity...

First, for the month of December we are dropping all set up fees on our interactive video widget, The Spark. This will save $500... I know a lot of people have expressed interest but the cost was prohibitive for a more experimental tool. So, if you are still interested now would be a great time to check it out again- especially if you have some online video you are looking to leverage... Learn more here. Our clients have had a lot of success with listbuilding, fundraising and driving folks around the web to their campaigns.

Josh Catone (@Catone) recently shared a post on Mashable entitled, How To Use the Web for Socially Responsible Shopping. In the post, Josh profiled nine sites that “offer information for the conscious consumer about the companies and products we buy every day.”

Josh did an excellent job highlighting and bringing together an array of awesome tools: Knowmore, GoodGuide, Crocodyl, ClimateCounts, Transnationale, Corporate Critic, Citizens Market, Do the Right Thing, and Source Map.

And then in the comments, the Mashable community shared more great resources: Tuggly, MadeinNations, Business & Human Rights, EthiScore, Vanno, GreenLighted, and Zumer.

As well, there are even more useful sites which feature green & sustainability ratings – like 3rdWhale & GenGreen (who announced a partnership last night) GreenAmerica, Bilumi, BadBuster, & SustainLane. The list definitely goes on!

The thing is, after you read the post – you're left wondering: “Who is bringing all this data together?”

Who's making it easy to search across these sites? Who's working on making sense of the data – to potentially create aggregate profiles or scores. Who's working on open standards and formats so sites can talk to each other? Who's facilitating an Open API (like the Social Actions API & WiserEarth API) – to spread this information where it can be most relevant online? Who's figuring out the business & collaboration models so open sharing can be more likely to happen?

Catone's post changes the game because it forces us to look at the green shopping sector as a whole and wonder how we can help take it to the next level.

What do you think? How can we support and leverage this exploding sector to ultimately empower millions of people to shop in ways that create a better environmental & social impact?

Excited for your thoughts!

Patrick Byers, CEO and President of OutSsource Marketing talks to us about responsible marketing, passions, and what social benefit organizations are missing out on if they neglect social media.

Google, as the internet search leader, is given the lowest "black mark" and placed on the botton of the heap of the worlds major internet companies, with a "hostile to privacy rating"  by Privacy International.

Ethics and Corporate accountability procedures seem to be ineffective, in the publics mind space. Silicon Valley companies must deal with "Privacy" issues. As the number one concern of citizens, tech corporations need to get out ahead of the issue, and regulations. The creation of a clear code of conduct and practise would be a good start. Otherwize they will loose the trust and good will they need to continue to thrive.